Teams from Northern Manitoba's outlying communities did well on the final day of the 43rd Munn Cup atom hockey tournament in Thompson Feb. 17, with all four winning their final games to take home first in the B division, third in both the A and B divisions and the B division consolation title.
The Gillam Chargers outscored the Carroll Aeros from Thompson 3-1 in the final period to claim a 5-3 victory in the Timmons Cup for the B division title. Isiah Spence-McMaster staked the Chargers to a 2-0 lead with goals early in the first and second period, but Samuel Millar and Ethan Bignell struck back for the Aeros to send the game to the third period tied 2-2. A pair of goals from Evan Alcock less than two minutes apart put the Chargers up by two until Erica Anderson's tally made it a one-goal game with a little over half a period to play, but Spence-McMaster gave Gillam a little breathing room when he completed his hat trick with just over five minutes to go.
The Chargers were 14-2 winners over Thompson's Subway Selects in the round robin, which also saw them beat Oxford House 9-0.
In the McMunn & Yates Cup game for third place in the B division, it was the Oxford House Capitals who came out on top, scoring two times in every period to knock off the Flin Flon Bombers by a score of 6-4. Damon Hart had three goals for the Capitals, one in each period, while Franklin Stinson had two and Linden Munro added the other. Oxford House never trailed in the game, establishing a 3-0 lead by midway through the second period and then holding on as the Bombers scored three straight goals in the last five minutes to cut the Capitals advantage to two.
The Capitals were 2-0 in the round robin, defeating Split Lake 23-1 and the Chargers 9-0 before losing 8-4 to Gillam in a playoff semi-final.
The third place A division title game for the Mintenko Cup went the Norway House North Stars way, as Carter Albert got the game-winner in the third period of a 3-2 game against The Pas Huskies. Austin Henry, in the first period, and Ethan Queskekapow, in the second, had the other goals for Norway House, which finished third in round robin play, knocking off The Pas 6-5 and the Split Lake Eagles 8-6 while losing 10-0 to the Thompson King Miners and 12-7 to the Flin Flon Bombers.
Another team from Norway House, competing in the B division, got a hat trick from Iverson Ettawacappo and two goals from Daylan Williams to defeat the Subway Selects 5-1 in the consolation final. The win was the first of the tournament for the North Stars, who lost 17-0 to the Carroll Aeros and 12-1 to Flin Flon in the round robin.
